GrantedShipping: Birthdays
by Alumina
Summary: Another GrantedShipping oneshot that has taken me a while to write. Multiple pairings are hinted at. There may be mild T-ish moments (nothing bad.)


**I know a lot of users post these kinds of fanfics on the character's birthday, but this has been sitting in my notebook for over a year and I kept getting writer's block with it. And I would most likely forget to post it later on one of the dates.**

**I'm also going to start trying to finish either a oneshot or series chapter every week or so.**

~March 3rd~

Yellow busily prepared for the party that night, her Pokemon helping her. She glanced out the window at the Viridian Forest occasionally, hoping to see who she would really like to come that day. She hadn't spoken to him in a while, and he did say he'd visit if he could.

Over the next few hours the other PokeDex Holders started coming over, helping with what was left to be done. By the time the last of them came everything was finished. Yellow continued to stare out the window at the darkening sky. _Where was he? Sure there were a lot of people…._ She sighed softly and turned to look around the room.

Everyone greeted each other, this being their second time all being in one place. Gold was attempting to flirt with Crystal before moving to Blue, only to be discouraged by a death-glare from Silver, who was talking to Red and Green.

Crystal noticed Yellow's behavior and walked over to her. "Is something wrong?"

Yellow blushed. "I was just hoping someone would be here."

"Someone you like?"

Yellow's face turned redder. "I…"

"You don't have to say who it is." Her PokeGear began to beep and her eyes widened when she looked at who was calling her. "I told him I had plans and not to call me every ten minutes." She sighed and answered anyway. "I'm at a friend's birthday party. Yes I told you about that. You talk with me often enough. I don't know when I'll be back." She scowled. "In four years, okay? Yes, we can stop technically dating then." She got out her PokeDex with her free hand. "You're in Cerulean, right? My PokeDex says Suicune is near the Lighthouse." She smirked and put the PokeGear away. "That'll keep him busy for a while."

"Who was that?"  
She gave a false, cheerful smile. "No one you know…."

Yellow smiled. "I'm glad you found someone you like."

Crystal looked away. "Well…" her attention was turned towards Blue, who was speaking to Red and Green.

"Who are you dating?" Red asked. "Green said you told me you were dating him."

"I have to have time to decide. How about I go on one date with each of you and decide that way?"

Red and Green looked at each other and nodded, agreeing it was a good idea. With that settled, they began talking about battle strategies again. Blue walked over to Crystal and Yellow, Silver meeting her there.

"You're really going to date them?"

Blue snickered. "Just once each. They're _so _easy to trick."

Yellow stared, somewhat horrified. "You're going to lie to them?"

"They'll leave me alone and what they don't know won't hurt them." She put an arm around Silver's shoulders. "Right, Silvy?" Silver's face turned several shades redder.

Yellow left to bring out the cake she had made. It had already been cut, each had a candle so everyone could make their one wish and each was decorated with the Starter Pokemon each had gotten. They lit their candle and blew out the flame. Everyone ate theirs slowly, enjoying the flavor, even Gold and Emerald who had been tempted to compete in a contest to see who could eat the fastest.

After they were finished they talked a little more- which was everyone's reactions to Gold loudly announcing that by the end of the night one of the girls would go on a date with him "because his birthday wishes always came true."

Everyone brought out their gifts from their backpacks or bags. Red's gift was two more sketchpads and a set of colored pencils and pens. Green's was a TM Case filled with the discs, along with a small guide to what Pokemon could learn the moves. Blue and Silver combined their gifts into one: a yellow VS. Seeker that could also detect aggressive Pokemon and worked as an Item Finder.

Gold handed a small box to Yellow that was wrapped in a piece of paper with all the DexHolders, poorly, drawn on it. Inside the box was a poker-chip.

"Buy something pretty with it after you turn it in."

Several of the others face-palmed.

Crystal had put together an entire collection of Pokeballs that had special effects, including Premierballs. A small hand-made booklet had descriptions of what each one did. Ruby had made a new dress for Yellow. Sapphire's gift was a set of books about nature, including how to predict the weather by looking at the clouds.

Emerald seemed very proud of his gift: A jar of Viridian Forest dirt.

An hour later everyone started to leave. Sapphire paused before leaving, as if she had heard a sound she wasn't used to and after a moment relaxed. Yellow finished cleaning before she started getting ready for bed. She picked up Chuchu. "I thought he'd come today." Yellow said, carrying Chuchu to her room.

Yellow opened the bedroom door. The window was open, noticeable by moving curtains. That was weird, Yellow was sure she closed the window that morning. After closing it very faint thoughts came from somewhere nearby. Yellow looked around and saw a wrapped box tied with a ribbon on the bedside table. She opened the envelope on it, finding a "happy birthday" card.

'_Sorry I couldn't come. It's safer for your friends not to know about me. I'll be waiting in the Forest tomorrow._

_Happy birthday,_

_Lance.'_

Yellow smiled. Very faint thoughts and feelings came again, from _inside _the box. She opened it, finding a pale blue Pokemon Egg and another small box, and _a_ black Pokemon decorated with red and yellow rings. The small box contained a black stone tied with a string to make a necklace.

"Pika." Chuchu said.

"An Everstone?"

"Pi-ka." Chuchu nodded.

Yellow stroked the Egg gently and gasped. "It's about to hatch!"

The Egg glowed and as the light faded a small almost snake-like Pokemon with delicate wing-like "ears" and big eyes took its place. Yellow recognized it as a Dratini, but they weren't usually this small, pink, and had a little heart replacing the dot on their forehead, right? It smiled. "Draa-!"

Yellow walked into the Forest early the next morning. Chuchu darted around, helping by trying to find Lance. Dratini hung around Yellow's shoulders, enjoying the ride. It soon tapped Yellow with its tail, pointing. Yellow walked in that direction, looking around. Not that far ahead Lance was leaning against a tree and didn't move until Yellow saw him. When he got close Yellow quickly walked forward and hugged him.

Lance hugged her back. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there last night."

"That's okay." Yellow loosened her embrace, missing the momentarily disappointment that went over Lance's face. "Tiny helped find you." She petted her Dratini's head. Tiny shook her head to show off the Everstone tied around her neck.

"What did the others give you?" His voice and expression showed interest.

Somehow having known he'd ask, Yellow brought everything in a backpack and showed them to him.

He stared at the chip thoughtfully. "Do you want to play a joke on Gold and give him a whole box of these? I've seen him gamble before. Pitiful."

Yellow stared, wide-eyed.

"Seeing everyone's expressions might be amusing." He picked up one of the colored pens and marked the chip. "Let's see how many we can get before getting this one again." He looked up and noticed Yellow's expression. "I'll do it on my own time. Do you want to help Tiny get stronger?"

Yellow smiled and nodded.

~November 3rd~

If there was one thing he didn't like about Blackthorn City, it was the early and long winters. The snow outside was already knee-deep and it was still snowing. Lance glared at the white world outside. _Why did he decide to come here? _Viridian almost never got heavy winters there were always short, mild, and at least tolerable. That was one of the reasons why he liked it there.

He didn't look at Clair as she entered the room. He easily recognized her presence and because she was one of the extreme few he trusted, he was comfortable enough when she walked up to him.

"Not celebrating your birthday again this year?"

He hadn't celebrated his birthday in… when was the last time he did? "Yellow wants to…." He shrugged. "So I guess."

"She's a nice girl. I'm sure the Elder with be happy."

Lance glared at her. "We're only friends. If she wants to start dating after she turns eighteen than that's fine."

"You're going to be like your father?"

"I'm not from Blackthorn. I don't have to follow the tradition."

Clair hesitated and nodded in agreement. "She'll be here soon. Green is bringing her."

Lance gave a nod and looked back outside, this time at the skies.

"It isn't going to be in the next five minutes."

"Viridian and Blackthorn are closer than you think."

"Green said it would be a little while. Yellow had to get something together before she could come."

"She can take as long as she wants."

"You say that even though you want the exact opposite." Clair smirked at Lance's sudden interest in the snow.

Although it was fun to tease him sometimes, now wasn't the best time. She wasn't sure if she liked the change in his personality that much. After he had been defeated by Yellow over four years earlier he had begun to, barely, trust others, such as Silver. Now, since Yellow had helped him almost a year before and he had gotten feelings for her he'd been trying to get used to other people, trying to figure out which were the good ones. He'd still always choose Pokemon over most people, having always been around them.

She could tell by how he'd become more alert now that he was reading the minds of the multiple Pokemon outside. "That's going to exhaust you even before she gets here."

"I'll be fine."

"So you have no plans for the day."

"Not at the moment." He relaxed a little. There were barely any Pokemon nearby. At least it started to stop snowing.

A small pink face suddenly thudded against the outside of the window. Lance hid his smile at Clair's started reaction, as he didn't even blink. He opened the window, bringing the Dratini in. The Pokemon had barely grown since she was born earlier that year, as she would always be small. She snuggled against him for warmth. Clair left to answer the door and Lance followed. If Tiny was here, so would Yellow.

Yellow set a bag on the table, greeting Lance. Tiny went back to her, hanging around her shoulders. Yellow's long blond hair was a little damp from the melting snow that got caught in it. Green had to leave immediately, saying he'd come back for Yellow later. Clair had to leave for a Gym Battle.

"Tiny wanted to say hi to you first." Yellow said, petting her Pokemon's head.

"She always does. She wants to see if she can scare me."

Tiny nodded proudly, tapping the tip of her tail against where her chest would be if she had one.

Yellow got three small domed containers out of her bag; each holding a small, round chocolate cake. Each cake was covered with chocolate frosting, chocolate chips and chocolate sprinkles. "Tiny had some of the cake batter. I even made cupcakes for the Pokemon." She handed a container and a plastic fork to Lance. "Happy birthday."

Lance smiled softly. The second bite of the cake revealed the inside was liquid chocolate, increasing the melt-in-your-mouth quality. One of the other two cakes was Yellow's, which she slowly ate. The other was left for Clair.

When they were finished, Yellow shyly offered an envelope to Lance. Inside was a pamphlet for Lilycove City's tourist attractions, along with two tickets to the museum.

"When I visited last year I thought you might like it. I talked to some friends that live there and they said this time of year the climate is really close to Viridian's. It gets colder for a little while until March. I wasn't sure if you would want to see a Pokemon Contest."

"They're planning on adding them to the Pokemon Stadium they're setting up between Goldenrod and Ecruteak. That won't be for another few years yet. Some of the wild Pokemon see Hoenn Trainers that are visiting here to practice and copy them. I just worry about the Pokemon that are force to perform."

"I guess…"

"When do you want to go?"

Yellow hesitated, surprised by the question. "When… you want to?"

"After Clair is finished with her Gym Battle. The last time I left without telling her where I was going she threatened she would tell the Elder that I was going to abandon the Clan if I did it again."

"Is that bad?"

"Clair's temper is nothing compared to our grandmother's. When I came back after a year's absence she confiscated my Pokemon and forced me to stay here. During winter. With no chocolate. After that she sent me to Snowpoint City in the Sinnoh region. It never stops snowing there."

"Would you ever abandon the Clan?"

"No. Especially with how few people there are now." He looked up as Clair came back. "We're going to Lilycove City for a while."

"Just make sure you come back." She picked up her chocolate cake.

Lance started leading Yellow towards the door. "I will. I have to bring Yellow back, don't I?"

"Yes, or you would just take her home and then go train without saying anything."

"I'll be back by ten."

"Nine. Elder's rule."

Lance ignored her and led Yellow outside.

"You can't be out after nine?"

"… Only because I behaved while the Elder punished me…" He sent out one of his Dragonair and turned to Yellow. "Could your Raticate be out?"

"Okay…" After they got on the Dragonair's back she sent out Ratty. The Pokemon looked around curiously and then down at the ground that was getting further away. Swirls appeared in its eyes and it bumped into Lance, who seemed grateful it was there.

Yellow crawled forward and held her Pokemon. "It's okay. Dragonair won't let us fall."

It looked up at her and then at Tiny, who had fallen asleep with a bored expression.

Awhile later when it was noticeably warmer, Yellow tapped Dragonair, telling it to go down. Dragonair floated down to the center of a park. Yellow slid off, thanking it. She recalled her Raticate as Lance recalled Dragonair. Yellow walked ahead. "The museum is this way." Tiny had woken up and took interest in just about everything they paused, pointing her tail and squeaking excitedly at anything pink, heart-shaped, or both. Although Lance didn't share the baby dragon's enthusiasm, he did enjoy how surprisingly quiet and clean the city was, especially for a city with a seaport like Kanto's (noisy, polluted) Vermillion City or Johto's (just noisy) Olivine City; which, in comparison to the Unova region's Castellia City, were spotless and peaceful.

Yellow had stopped for a moment to watch a young boy with his Pikachu, calling out for it do use Electric-type moves in different patterns. "I think that's what they do for Contests."

Lance watched without much interest, smiling a bit when the Pikachu didn't agree with its Trainer and shocked him with a weak Thunder Shock. Tiny frowned and sprang into the air, little pink hearts surrounding it and flying in different directions, striking a pose in the shape of a heart and winking when she softly landed on the ground. She nodded in satisfaction and floated back to her place around Yellow's shoulders. Yellow petted the Pokemon's head. "We'll compete once Johto has Contests, okay?" Tiny nodded enthusiastically.

The museum was even quieter than the outside, and warmer. Displays guarded by glass were in the center of the room and paintings hung on the walls. Lance studied a scale model of the Kanto and Johto region. He pointed out the Viridian Forest. "It's too small. It actually expands closer to Blackthorn City."

"I don't think a lot of people know that. And I'm sure they'll correct it when they can." Yellow said.

Lance nodded slightly and followed her through the rest of the museum, having more fun watching her expressions, especially to a stone carving of two Pikachu.

Yellow excitedly pointed to a painting of two Dragonair leaping out of the ocean towards each other, over lapping each other slightly as the water sparkled and reflected the setting sun in the background. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Sure." Next to the painting was one with a black Dragonite, something about it just saying it could be quite wild and yet, with how it held a small female Pikachu on its hand, in a way it showed the larger Pokemon was gentle. Something was oddly familiar about it.

They stayed almost until the museum closed. As they walked back to the park Lance gently pulled Yellow closer when she shivered. He smiled softly. "I should celebrate my birthday next year."

**I didn't know how else to end it without it going on for another paragraph or longer.**


End file.
